1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a holder-mounted optical element in which a holder and an optical element are integrated, and more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a holder-mounted optical element formed by press forming an optical element material within the holder.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical element such as lens mounted in a pickup head of a CD player or a lens used in a digital camera requires high precision during its installation. To meet this requirement, a holder-mounted optical element that secures the optical element using a holder is generally manufactured. As a result, it is possible to meet the requirement using the holder. For example, a method of manufacturing the holder-mounted optical element is disclosed in patent document 1. Herein, first, an optical element material is disposed inside a cylindrical holder material and is heated. Then the holder material and the optical element material are press formed using metallic dies, thereby forming the optical element. At the same time, an installation surface for the holder is formed and the optical element is compressed in the holder, thus to integrate the optical element with the holder.
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent No. 2793433 (FIG. 3)
However, when press forming the optical element material, if there is any error in the volumetric metering of the optical element material, the thickness of the optical element material is changed. As a result, optical performance is degraded and an ideal optical location should be obtained for adjustment and fixation, causing problems in terms of performance and location determination. As a method to solve such problems, there is a method that the volume error can be reduced by improving precision in the volumetric metering of the optical element material. However, to make sure to obtain the desired effects, it is necessary to handle not only the volume of the optical element material but also the holder shape with high precision.